Learn about life afloat the easy way

Life on a narrowboat can be as peaceful as it is idyllic BUT you need to understand the pros, cons, highs, lows, and day to day logistics in living on England's inland waterways. Let me help you find out all you need to know before you commit to what could be a very expensive mistake.

2014 07 27 Newsletter – The Pros And Cons Of A Wide Beam Home

I love the internet and the vast amount of information which is instantly available twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year. However, sometimes I think there is too much information available. Take this week for example.

Meadows marina is beautiful. One hundred and forty boats rest on spacious moorings on six acres of reed fringed marina. The reeds and bull rushes screen each of the mooring bays, provide a degree of privacy for the boats moored there and a home for the marina’s musical reed warblers and an al fresco dining area for coots, crested grebes, mallards by the score, swans, tufted ducks and a very occasional kingfisher. The healthy reed growth is wonderful for wildlife but a bit of a problem for Pat and I.

The reeds grow at a tremendous rate at this time of the year. New shoots on the bank surrounding the marina often grow six inches between weekly grass cuts. New growth on the grass is easy to remove with a quick pass from the comfort of my ride on mower. New reed growth in the water is an entirely different matter.

There are nine bays in Meadows marina, each separated from the others by a grassy peninsula which extends thirty of forty feet into the water from the bank. The perimeter of the marina including the sides of the peninsulas was planted with reeds when the marina was built in 2006. Each year since then the reeds have extended their territory more and more until this year when many of the boats on end moorings have rather more privacy than they would perhaps like.

We have tried many ways of removing the reeds. We’ve tried throwing a grappling hook from one of our hire boats brought down from the wharf especially for weed removal. The grappling hook couldn’t budge the firmly rooted reeds. We tried leaning over the side of the hire boat and pulling them out by hand but we couldn’t reach them. We tried an outboard engine powered skiff to use as a platform. This was low enough to enable us to grab the reeds but they were so well anchored that giving them an almighty yank almost capsized the boat rather than pull them free.

Eventually we came to the conclusion that there was no other way of clearing the mooring bays than to climb into the marina wearing chest waders and carrying a pair of short handled garden shears. That’s when my problems began this week.

Our marinas are very healthy. The ten acres of water support a variety of fish including perch, roach, bream, common carp, zander and pike. The perch, roach and bream aren’t a problem. Nor are the carp although some of them weigh in excess of 30lb and can often be seen wallowing in the shallows. I’m not really bothered by the zander either even though they are fierce predators. What really bothers me is the thought of monster pike lurking beneath the surface looking for an easy meal.

Pat told me that he had an underpants changing incident when he was clearing the reeds a couple of months ago. He said that he felt something bang into his leg. He looked down to see a pike with a head as big as a Doberman resting against his thigh. He ran out of the water and hasn’t been back since.

I’m not entirely sure I believe him, especially as he’s told me on several occasions that he thinks the woods are haunted. I was pretty sure that he was having me on but, as I have a good internet connection and love a bit of surfing, I decided to spend a few minutes finding out if there are any record of pike biting people.

Worryingly there are quite a few. In fact world pike expert Fred Buller stated that a trailing hand in the water, or maybe a groundsman grabbing handfuls of cut reeds from a marina, is quite likely to trigger a predatory attack. A pike has a mouthful of needle sharp, backward-sloping teeth (see below) which I don’t want to get too close to.

Of course I didn’t really expect to get attacked by a ravenous and ferocious four feet long meat eating fish, but the stories were at the back of my mind when I waded chest deep into the cool marina water armed with a pair of garden shears on a very hot Wednesday last week. I soon forgot about the pike as I concentrated on staying upright on the uneven and steeply shelved reed choked marina side.

Meadows marina is unusually deep. The contractor who dug out the marina ran out of clay to build the island in the middle so, on the side closest to where I was working, he scraped more and more off the marina bed until he had enough to raise the half acre island six feet above the water. The result was a section of the marina over twenty feet deep. More than enough water to hide some very large fish.

Of course there was nothing to worry about, other than an unexpected under chin suntan from the searing sunlight reflected from the crystal clear water, the difficulty in keeping my footing on the steeply shelving and very uneven marina bottom and the problem of maintaining my balance with my increased buoyancy due to being nipple deep in water. There was nothing to worry about until I saw a line of bubbles approaching me.

In my late teens and early twenties I spent nearly every weekend fishing on lakes and ponds near my Merseyside home. I know all about fresh water bubbles. It’s a sure sign that something is under the surface disturbing the silt. I knew that there were often large carp foraging in the shallows but the carp are shy creatures so I would have expected the bubbles to move away from me and not in an arrow straight line towards my legs.

I took a precautionary step backwards and checked to see how close I was to the bank. Stepping backwards in chest deep water over an uneven surface wearing waders a size too big for me was a bad idea. I stumbled but managed to maintain my balance but not before a litre or two of marina sloshed over the top of my waders and down my legs. I would have been all right if hadn’t glanced at the line of bubbles again and then seen something beneath the water make the reeds quiver and shake as it moved closer and closer towards me.

I took another step backwards just as the water boiled in front of the quivering reeds and something launched itself from the water towards my bare hand just beneath the surface. I leaped backwards, tripped over a rock and emptied the contents of the marina into my chest high rubber boots.

After a brief and rather unpleasant tour of the marina bottom I struggled back to the surface to see my “assailant” disappear into the bank-side reeds. It was nothing more harmless than a three month old coot chick making its ungainly and very noisy way through the undergrowth looking for food. The fluffy little vegetation eating bird wasn’t quite the 40lb attack-anything-on-sight predator I had tried so hard to get away from. Still, looking on the bright side, my phone soon dried out and in the searing heat I soon dried out too as I sat on the bank in my boxer shorts.

The Pros And Cons Of A Wide Beam Boat

I was asked recently what the advantages and disadvantages are of a wide beam boat and how they compare with narrowboats. I am biased of course. I have a narrowboat and wouldn’t swap it for a wide beam for all the tea in China. In one of the May newsletters last year I wrote about a chance meeting with a brand new wide beam hotel boat on the stretch of Oxford/GU canal between Napton and Braunston junctions. One reader thought my post was a personal and unwarranted attack on wide beams. It wasn’t. I have nothing against them at all. Many have beautifully designed and undeniably spacious accommodation but the waterway network wasn’t designed for such wide craft. In my opinion, and it is only my opinion, many will disagree with me, they aren’t suitable as a recreational vehicle at all.

Here is what I think are the advantages and disadvantages of a wide beam boat compared with a narrowboat. I know that this post is subjective so in the interest of providing as balanced a view as possible, I welcome all comments from wide beam owners and enthusiasts. I know that a number of site visitors and regular forum contributors are wide beam owners. If you are one of them, and disagree with any of the points I have made below, please let me know so that I can publish your comments,

Advantages

More living space You have more space to store them your stuff and even though your boat is sometimes nearly twice as wide as a narowboat, you only pay the same license fee for the canals (If you are going to be moored full time on some rivers, such as the Thames, the fee you pay is determined by the area of the boat rather than by the length. You will also have to pay more than you would for a narrowboat if you buy a Gold license.

Disadvantages

Severely limited cruising In theory, you can cruise on rivers and wide canals. Wide canals get their name from the width of the locks rather than the width of the waterway itself. A wide lock will take two narrowboats side by side so wide beams can use these locks too. However, wide beams cannot use the narrow canals.We have some wonderful routes available to the moorers and hirers here at Calcutt Boats. We’re on the Grand Union canal at the heart of the network. The most popular routes are to Oxford and back along the south Oxford. The Warwick Ring which passes by our front door. The route is through Leamington Spa and Warwick, through the centre of Birmingham, on to Tamworth down towards Coventry, through Rugby, on to Baunston and then back to Napton and the final short hop to Calcutt Boats. A very popular and very gentle route is the “four locks” cruise to the end of the Ashby canal and back. My favourite route from Calcutt is to Market Harborough. There’s a huge amount of variety including three tunnels, two flights of staircase locks, a deafeningly noisy section as the canal squeezes past the M1 next to Watford Gap service station, the A5 and a busy railway, and some of the most remote and peaceful countryside on the network. Wide beam boats can’t do any of these routes.Wide beams also cannot travel on the Huddersfield Narrow canal, the Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Caldon or Trent & Mersey canals, the Shropshire Union, Birmingham & Fazeley, the hundred mile plus BCN network around Birmingham, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, or the Worcester and Birmingham.And because wide beams can’t travel on some of the canals in the Midlands, it’s not possible to travel between the northern and southern sections of the network.I started off by saying that in theory wide beams can cruise the wide canals. Unfortunately, in practice it’s rarely either pleasant or stress free cruising.I live and work on the Grand Union less than half a mile away from Napton junction. It’s one of the busiest stretches of canal in the country. As well as being at the heart of the canal network, just two hour’s cruise from the canal capital of Braunston, it’s home to a large number of marinas. There are more than two thousand offline moorings within a ten mile radius of where I live.Because of our location, and because of the number of boats moored in the area, there’s a constant stream of boats passing by. I see hundreds off boats pass by each week. How many are wide beams? Not one.Seeing a wide beam moving along the waterway here is a rarity. I see one every couple of months at the most. The fact is that traveling on the canals, even wide canals such as the Grand Union, can be quite a painful process.Canals are often shallow but by keeping to the centre of the canals where passing narrowboats have kept the channel clear silt, you can cruise without difficulty… in a narrowboat. In a wide beam you often straddle the cleared channel, especially when passing under bridges and especially when you need to pass traffic moving in the opposite direction.When you pass through a bridge hole in a narrowboat, you have some manuouvering room. You can steer close to the towpath side where there is more headroom and more clearance for the any roof furniture. You don’t have that luxury with a wide beam. You have to pass under bridges very carefully and make sure that your boat roof is clear of obstructions.

Increased maintenance costs Your boat’s steel hull and cabin needs constant attention to prevent the ever present threat of rust. You’ll want to have your boat removed from the water every two to three years to black the hull. A wide beam is going to cost you more to black because of the increased surface area which will need painting. You’re also going to have logistical issues when looking for someone to do the work for you. We black a large number of boats at Calcutt Boats. I’m not sure of the exact number but it’s probably in excess of 150 each year. They are all narrowboats.We can’t black wide beam boats because of the equipment we use.We have a wheeled cradle which is pushed down the slipway into the water by a JCB. Boats are steered over the trailer which is then pulled back out of the water along with the boat. The cradles four corner posts are just slightly wider than a narrowboat so we can’t accommodate boats wider than seven feet. Many other boat yards have similar restrictions because of the equipment they use to remove boats from the water of because of the width of their dry docks.

Increased running costs Your license won’t cost you any more on the canals than a similar length narrowboat but it will on the waters which determine the license cost based on the boat’s area rather than the length. And because you have more living space, your heating costs will also increase.

Increased mooring costs and difficulty finding a mooring I told you recently about the monster wide beam which was launched at Kate boats a few months ago. Avalon is 70′ long and 13’6″ wide. The owners had done as much as they could to find a suitable mooring before the boat was built. They found a marina which promised could accommodate them, paid a deposit to secure the mooring and with the mooring secured instructed the Colecraft to build their sailaway. Gary then spent a year fitting out the boat himself. During that time he paid another deposit to the marina to hold their marina berth.On the day that they launched their new floating home, the marina informed them that the mooring was no longer available as it wasn’t suitable for their boat. They cruised as far as the Calcutt flight and stopped because Gary was a nervous wreck. On top of the devastating news that the boat now had no mooring, they launched the thirty seven tonne and surprisingly shallow drafted boat on a very windy day. Gary, with no boating experience at all to draw on, said that he travelled most of the three miles to the Calcutt flight at a forty five degree angle.Clacutt Boats’ owners agreed to let them stay for a few weeks until they found themselves somewhere else to moor. They searched high and low, and I helped them, but because of the boat’s size, nothing was available. For a start, even if they wanted to moor in a marina, the boat’s width caused a problem. I don’t know whether they could have negotiated the entrance to the marinas here, but it would have been a tight squeeze. I think they might just have made it if we removed the sleepers protecting the marina entrance sides. Whether they could or not was academic. There were no moorings suitable for them inside the marina and the business doesn’t accept live aboards anyway. If there had been space, it would probably have been prohibitively expensive. Our moorings are all on pontoons with just two narrowboat widths between each finger. They would have had to pay twice the normal cost because they would have taken up two boat spaces. The cost would have been in excess of £5,000pa.We didn’t have a suitable mooring but Wigram’s Turn marina half a mile away at Napton Junction offered them a place. Unfortunately they couldn’t use it because they couldn’t fit their boat through the marina entrance. The marina entrance is 13′ wide, six inches too narrow to allow them access.I took Gary and his wife Marie out on James for the day to help them search for another mooring. There was nothing remotely suitable. The only other marina in the area which was prepared to take them and which had an entrance wide enough for their boat was at Braunston. They decided against it. The main reason for buying the boat and moving afloat was to afford their severely handicapped nineteen year old daughter Emily a better quality of life for her few remaining yearsEmily was shaken by a child minder as a baby. The child minder was imprisoned for a few short years. Emily suffered brain damage and lost almost all of her sight in both eyes. Water soothes and calms her. The boat is a wide beam to give her the space she needs to move around her new home safely. The boat’s temporary mooring on the canal between two locks away from roads and surrounded by wildlife is the perfect location for her. The berth offered them at Braunston was wedged between other boats with difficult and dangerous access for someone so visually impaired. It just wasn’t suitable.

Even if Marie and Gary didn’t have to consider Emily’s particular requirements, there were no mooring opportunities even remotely suitable. The boat was simply too wide for most online moorings. There wouldn’t have been room for canal traffic to pass easily or safely. Most of the marinas in the area don’t take live aboard boaters and couldn’t have physically fitted their boat in anyway. There was a glimmer of light at Barby Moorings on the North Oxford but the further we cruised up the canal from Braunston towards Barby the more apparent it became that the boat simply wouldn’t fit through many of the bridge holes.

Gary and Marie were both very despondent when we moored at the end of a ten hour cruise. In theory they could have travelled further afield to look for somewhere suitable but they had the logistical issue of having to ferry Emily too and from her special school, a task they had to accomodate around their own full time jobs.

The situation appeared so hopeless that they seriously considered selling the boat, probably at a substantial loss, and moving back into their Southam home. Since then they have been given a further stay of execution by Caluctt Boats’s owners but I don’t know what they will do if they are asked to move elsewhere.

As you can see, I think that the disadvantages of a wide beam far outweigh the advantage of having a little more living space. What do you think?

I Need Some Help!

Each time I write a newsletter, I tick another subject off the list of things which those new to boating have told me that they want to read about. The hardest part of the process isn’t the writing itself, it’s constantly thinking of new content for each issue. The trouble is, I don’t know what you want to read. I think I keep the newsletters reasonably interesting but I don’t know for sure. That’s where I need your help.

Can you let me know what you would like to read in the future? Are there any areas of narrowboat life you don’t think I’ve covered enough or areas which I’ve missed completely? Please let me know what you want to read about. Thanks for your help.

Newsletter Index

I created the site just over four years ago to provide a source of information for anyone interested in narrowboats and the possibility of living on one full time. The site has grown to encompass a comprehensive listing of inland marinas in England and Wales, dozens of articles, a forum and regular newsletters. I’ve already created (below) indexes of the site articles and the more popular forum posts. I thought it was about time I created an easy to use index of the newsletter content. Here’s the index so far.

The dreaded weed hatch – Sooner or later your engine will start to overheat, you’ll lose propulsion and you’ll know that you need to dive down your weed hatch to free an obstacle or two from the propeller. Here’s how to do it properly and a list of the tools you’ll need.

Practical experience for lone boaters. Here’s an account of a day’s cruise with a nervous single boater. He wanted enough confidence to deal with locks on his own. I spent the day with him, designed a route to include twenty six locks and spent ten hours helping him hone his locking skills.

The A -Z of everything narrowboat – With over 5,500 posts and pages on the site now, quickly finding exactly what you want can sometimes be a problem. For this newsletter I started creating and A-Z index of all the site content.

Narrowboat Knots – At my first lock on my first cruise I watched my boat drift into the centre of the canal along with my twelve year old son. If you want to avoid the same embarrassment and potential damage to both your boat and your self esteem, you need to know how to tie your boat securely in a number of different situations.

Toilets is a subject often discussed by narrowboat owners but they usually talk about either pump out or cassette toilets. There is a third type though and it’s one which is both environmentally friendly and cheap to run. Here’s all you need to know about composting toilets.

Boat owners who live on board are considered to have a pretty simple and basic life by many living in bricks and mortar homes. Compared with the lifestyle of the farmers I’ve been staying with in the Philippines though, my UK life seems overly materialistic and expensive. Cou

Here’s an account of my very first winter on board and that of one of the site’s subscribers, Nigel Buttery. They’re very different experiences. My first winter was the coldest on record. Nigel’s is one of the mildest winters we’ve had for a long time.

I’ve also included to links to my Philippines blog. I spent the whole of February living in a rural farming community on the island of Negros.

Have you ever wondered how a narowboat is built. Here are the first two parts of a very detailed account of the building of a Sea Otter aluminium narrowboat. You’ll be particularly interested in Sea Otters if you don’t fancy the constant battle with rust that you have with traditional steel narrowboats.

The practicality of hosting Christmas afloat – How do you achieve a floating festive event (and do you really want to)?

Liveaboard case study, The Pearl – Tony and Jane Robinson believe in forward planning. They stated their narrowboat fund thirty years before buying their own boat. Now the two retired education workers moor in a marina for the winter then explore the waterways during the warmer months.

Fitting secondary double glazing – Fitting the panels is a simple operation for those with the most basic DIY skills, something which I sadly haven’t developed. As you might expect then, the fitting didn’t go as well as it should.

Narrowboat videos – I launched the Living On A Narrowboat YouTube channel

Managing your boat’s water supply. You can use your water supply as and when you need it when you live in a house with all mod cons. You can pretty much do the same when you’re on a marina mooring with a water supply just a hose length away. It’s a different kettle of fish when you’re on an online mooring.

Liveaboard case study – A prime example of mooring without a water supply on tap.

The folly of using unseasoned wood as a fuel – Here’s essential information if you plan to use logs you find to heat your boat for free

Creating lasting memories of your cruises – Slightly off topic, but please bear with me. You’ll have some wonderful adventures as you travel throughout the network. They’ll be adventures worth remembering but will you remember them? I have a very poor memory but instant and total recall of all my cruises is just a click away.

A disaster – I inadvertently deleted this week’s newsletter and there wasn’t a backup on the server. What a shame. It was all about the damage you can do to your boat if you don’t watch what you’re doing in a lock. You would have loved it!

Liveaboard Case Study – American Richard Varnes has taken a year out from work to cruise the canal network and write about his adventure. Here’s his case study and a few stories from his journey so far.

CART Guide Approval – The waterways’ governing body is now promoting the information packages available from this site. Yippee!

Narrowboat Insurance – A summary of insurance quotes from the major narrowboat insurers

Liveaboard Case Study – Keith and Nicky downsized their property in Jersey, used the released capital to buy their 57? “go anywhere” narrowboat and now live on their boat full time while they continuously cruise the canal network. They’re ridiculously young to retire, and I’m very, very jealous

Downsizing from a 3 bed semi to a narrowboat – What do you do with a lifetime’s accumulated possessions?

Keeping your stove glass clean – Maybe you think it’s an odd subject for the summer but you can’t trust the English weather. Late June and the stove was still on now and again. At least now I have a crystal clear view of the fire I shouldn’t need to light.

Traffic chaos caused by Braunston’s historic boat rally – On a day with high winds and a canal full of working boats returning home after the rally, I had the pleasure of taking some very nervous hirers out on the cut.

23rd June 2013 – The cost of a two week cruise. If you live on your own boat, what’s the real cost of taking it away for a two week break?

Case Study – Mary Anne swapped dry land home rental for floating home ownership. Now she loves life afloat and works from home.

Life as a continuous cruiser – The Holy Grail of narrowboat ownership. The ability to travel where and when you like. Peter Early tells all.

The Ashby canal cruise part two – We spent a bit more time on the Ashby before heading south again, joining the Coventry canal, this time following it into Coventry’s rather depressing and disappointing city centre, then retracing our steps back to Calcutt

Most popular narrowboat names – Here’s the definitive list of the top 200 most popular narrowboat names and a resource you can use to find out if any other boat has the same name as yours

Considerate boating – An article prompted after a near head on collision with another boat trying to avoid a fallen oak.

I was on holiday for the first two weeks of June. Sally and I cruised from Calcutt to Braunston, north along the north Oxford where we joined the Coventry canal briefly before taking a very sharp right turn onto the Ashby canal. Here’s a daily report of the first week of our holiday.

My comments about an encounter on the Oxford/GU section between Napton and Braunston sparked a debate about the pros and cons of wide beams on the cut.

Keeping dry – You don’t really need to limit your cruising to sunny summer days. There’s something very special about standing on the back deck in the pouring ran protected by a set of bomb proof waterproofs.

Do you really need a car? Living on a narrowboat is all about enjoying a simple and stress free life. Sally and I had a car each. Mine cost £2,000 to run in the previous 12 months so I decided to get rid of mine to see if I could manage without one.

Case study – Sarah lives on wide beam Antioch on the Leeds Liverpool canal. She can do man things with her hands. Here’s her story.

Be inspired – There are always reasons why you don’t make the move from bricks and mortar to steel and water. Here’s an anecdote which demonstrates once and for all that there really aren’t any worthwhile excuses.

Case Studies – I put together 21 of the best case studies and analysed and summarised the data in this low cost guide. If you want ton save yourself hundreds of hours of research and costly mistakes, you need to read this guide.

Case Study – Mike’s circumstances are similar to my own. He moved onto his boat after a failed marriage. He’s upgraded from a 27? GRP cruiser to a 50? narrowboat

As a result of the article about the downside of living on a narrowboat published in the 18th March newsletter, I asked liveaboard narrowboat owners to complete a survey to give a balanced view of the issues raised by Pauline. Here are the survey results and a much more positive article by liveaboard narrowboat owner and frequent forum contributer Peter Early.

Dealing with the coldest winter on record
Digital reading – A detailed review of the Kindle, the perfect solution for book loving boat owners

Comprehensive Site Article Listing

There are dozens of helpful and interesting articles on the site, but have you found them all? I thought you might appreciate a list of the more popular articles that you can glance through and click on the ones that take your fancy. Here it is.

Popular Forum Posts

There’s a wealth of information on the site in general, but if you’re struggling to find the answer to a particular issue, the forum is the place to find it. I’ve listed some of the more popular posts below but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask your question on the forum. If you don’t know how to create a post, or if you can’t log in, please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to get you up and running.

Aluminium Boats – They don’t rust so why don’t you see more of them on the inland waterways?

Remedies For Sooty Stove Glass – For me, one of the great pleasures of living on a narrowboat is a winter evening in front of a flickering fire. Here’s how you can keep your stove glass clear so you can see the fire in all its glory

A New Narrowboat Dog – Alan recently moved on board his own floating home. He loved his new boat but something was missing. Now he has a new best friend and he’s in love, although his new best friend has proven a bit of a challenge.

Electric Boats – What do they cost to run? Why would you want one? There’s a huge amount of information for you here if you’ve ever considered an alternative to a diesel narrowboat engine.

Pram Covers – “Pram cover” is the term for a cover over the rear deck, usually on a cruiser stern narrowboat. Here are the pros and cons.

Checklists – What do you need to check before you set off on a cruise? There’s some very detailed information including a very useful post by fellow Calcutt moorer Graham who has issues with his mobility after an RTA many years ago.

Television Aerials – If you can’t live without your Corrie, you’ll need a decent aerial for your boat.

My New Life – I urge you to read this forum thread. If you dream of living on your own narrowboat one day, reading this post, written by a new liveaboard boater, may well prove the catalyst you need. It’s essential reading for any aspiring narrowboat owner.

Narrowboat Ownership – How do you prove that the person offering a narrowboat for sale is the real owner?

Beds – The pros and cons of fixed doubles and cross beds. You need to read this if you are taller or slightly wider than average.

Flushing Out a Toilet Waste Tank – Emptying your pumpout toilet holding tank isn’t just a case of sucking out your unmentionables. You also need to flush water through the tank to remove the built up solids. Here’s how to do it.

Best Ex Hire Boats – Are you considering buying an ex hire boat to live on? Should you? Here’s some important information for you.

Liveaboard Conclusions – Mel Davies has been doing plenty of research into her hoped for lifestyle afloat. Here are the conclusions she’s reached and comments from a few existing liveaboard narrowboat owners.

Handling Floodwaters – How safe is a river mooring during and after heavy rain? Can you stay on a river when the level rises? What can you do to minimise danger?

Winter on the cut – Are you able to cruise all year on your boat or should you find a mooring for the winter?

Transporting your boat – Sometimes you may want or need to take your narrowboat by road rather than cruise along the canal. Here’s an idea of the cost

Bike types and preferences – If you don’t have a car parked near your boat, you’ll probably want a bike, but which type of bike is best?

Towing a butty – I’ve upset someone. I didn’t mean to. Wainbody wanted to know the best way of towing an unpowered second narrowboat (butty). I came across as patronising when I replied. It was unintentional but to make amends I thought I would ask anyone with boat handling experience to reply to his thread with some constructive advice. If you can help him, please reply to the post.

Diesel heating for boats – How important is a solid fuel stove on a liveaboard narrowboat? Is a diesel heating system OK as a primary heat source?

Computers on boats – Can a computer be powered from your boat’s 12v system or does it need to be plugged into the mains

Receiving post on your boat – How does the postman find you when you’re cruising? How do you apply for a driving license, a TV license or a bank statement when you have no official address?

Bikes on board – Many boat owners do not have cars so they rely on bikes to get them to the shops (or the pub). Some use bikes to collect their cars after a day’s cruising. There’s a huge selection of bikes to choose from. Which are the best for your boat? To tell you the truth, I don’t know the answer. Can you point forum member Ainslo in the right direction?

Paul Smith

After six and a half years living on a narrowboat on England's inland waterways, Paul and his wife Cynthia now wander Europe by motorhome during the winter, and on the Dutch and French waterways in the warmer months on their 32' Dutch motor cruiser.